The actress is keen to view the classics and so, we have prepared a list for her. Check them out!

Deepika Padukone did justice as a Bengali girl almost harassed by her annoying father for everything in life in Piku. Though it’s Shoojit Sircar’s talent that he displayed the Bengali nuances so bang on, you can’t deny that the actress made for a very pretty and rare Bong girl. It seems the actress too is enamoured by Bengali culture and its movies now. She wants to watch all the classic Bengali cinematic wonders. Well, Deepika, we think we can help you here. Here are some classic Bengali films you got to watch!

Satyajit Ray gems

It won’t be wrong to say that if you manage to watch all his masterpieces, you are done with every filmi knowledge you can ever get in your life. Every film is an institution in itself but for starters, you can watch Pather Panchali trilogy, Devi, Adventures of Gopi Gayan and Bagha Bayan, Teen Kanya, Charulata, Aryaner Din Ratri and more. Be prepared to be swarmed by creative brilliance!

Saptopodi (The Seven Steps)

One of the romantic blockbusters churned out by the magical pair of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, Saptopodi is ingenious! Based in the revolution torn India, it is a love story about a Hindi guy and a Christian girl. It’s about Indian society’s hackneyed idea of no-inter-religious marriages. It’s still relevant and extremely mushy! You can pick a few tips on how to project sublime love on screen, Deeps!

Paromitar Ek Din (A day in Paromita’s life)

An Aparna Sen gem, Paromitar Ek Din is perhaps the only film which explored the love-hate relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law so delicately. No taunts, bickering or abuses, but pure friendship. Nothing explains this relationship better than this film. You know Deepika, their bond is not always the conniving kinds that Indian Television serials force us to believe!

Mondo Meyer Upakhan (A Tale of A Naughty Girl)

Buddhadev Dasgupta’s direction makes this seemingly disturbing tale of prostitutes a deserving watch. There is so much pain and pathos yet there is the idea of life. Deepika, this film could be your guide to do author-backed roles with élan!

Dosar (Emotional Companion)

Now as someone who advocated My Choice fervently only a few months back, this film could be a shocker. But then, you have to understand it was Kaberi’s ‘çhoice’. You would know that better don’t you. Deepika?

There are more since Bengali Cinema’s heritage is too rich but as of now, you can check these out! What say, Deepika?

The veteran Bengali actor paid tribute to the legendary playback singer who passed away on October 24

Soumitra Chatterjee The doyen of Bengali films on Thursday paid glowing tributes to legendary singer Manna Dey, saying the variety of his work made him like a banyan tree in the world of music.

“He was such a colossal figure, there can be no alternative to Manna da. People like him evolve into banyan trees on the strength of their work. I am at a loss for words,” said Chatterjee, who has lipped a large number of popular songs of Dey in Bengali films over the decades.

The actor said while in college, he attended some functions where Dey accompanied his uncle – the celebrated singer Krishna Chandra Dey. “I heard several kirtans. I liked a song from Parineeta, Chali Radhe-rani. It was a big hit.”

Chatterjee said later when he took up film acting, he got to lip a large number of songs rendered by Dey. “Many of these songs have stood the test of time. I would like to mention two songs of the film Teen Bhubaner Pare – Ke tumi Nandini and Hoyto tomari jonno. They were such diverse songs, but he sang both of them so well. It only shows his versatility,” said the septuagenarian actor.

Veteran singer Dwijen Mukhopadhyay cherished the time he spent with the departed singer through the decades. “We knew each other for so many decades. We visited each other’s house regularly. He rose to great heights in music. All music loving Indians are in grief.”

However, Mukhopadhyay felt the Indian government never gave Dey the recognition he deserved.

August 31 is the late filmmaker’s birth anniversary. Two of his close associates and his brother remember the genius on the occasion, also talking about his last film Satyanweshi

Born on August 31, 1963, it’s late filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh‘s 50th birth anniversary today. Revered as a brilliant chronicler of human relationships, Ghosh forged strong personal ties with his co-workers from different strata of society and nurtured them as his surrogate family. Two of his colleagues – one a reputed designer and the other a humble driver – recall Ghosh as a true professional who had an affectionate side for the cast and crew, thereby endearing him to all. He would go all the way for them, disregarding social barriers.

“Ritu da (elder brother in Bengali) had this amazing quality to build and nurture a surrogate family around him. I was fortunate to be part of this family,” said Darshan Shah, Founder and Trustee of Weavers Studio, a textile design firm.

Ghosh died of a heart attack May 30.

What costumes did Rituparno Ghosh plan for Satyanweshi?

Shah and her team had been working closely with him for the costumes for Satyanweshi- the director’s last film. Produced by Shree Venkatesh Films, Ghosh’s swansong features filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh as Byomkesh Bakshi and Bengali actors Anindya Chatterjee, Arpita Chatterjee, Sibaji Bandyopadhyay and Indraneil Sengupta in key roles in this detective thriller. (A Facebook posting says the film is due for a September release though the date has not been specified.)

“Ritu da narrated the story of Satyanweshi in short and highlighted what clothes and costumes each character would wear and the look of each of the actors – the period, the different settings, from the Zamindarbadi (Zamindar’s household) to when they would travel and the influences would have to also be in sync as the movie progressed,” Shah explained.

Possessing a clarity of vision about how the script would progress, a sense of aesthetics and the nuances he expected from his actors, Ghosh got the best out of his team. “He challenged us with deadlines but always thanked us for our efficiency,” Shah noted.

The sartorial elegance in Ghosh’s films is the evidence of his love of natural earthy organic textiles, his eye for detail and a penchant for the vintage.

For Satyanweshi, Ghosh chose exquisite tussar silk (raw silk produced in Malda district of West Bengal that has a dull gold sheen) and organic cotton. “The men were to be either in dhoti Punjabis (kurtas) in organic cottons, hand-reeled tussars and sometimes with an elegant tussar matka shawl draped over their shoulders or be dressed in simple old-fashioned trousers and shirts when the scene changed and the location changed. “He told us what type of collar, buttons, zip and pleats he wanted for the trousers and shirts,” said Shah.

Ghosh guided Shah’s team and chose the sarees that Aloka (the character portrayed by Arpita) would be wearing and selected the type and fabric for the blouse. “He told us how he wanted it styled and chose the accessories carefully from a wide range of Narayan Sinha’s artistic creations to Amrapali’s traditional pieces. For some costumes, he just asked us to convert a piece of textile and put a border and define it and make it like a saree.”

Did Rituparno Ghosh’s crew members make fun of his sexuality?

Tarakeshwar Shaw, who currently chauffeurs for a government undertaking, had a chance to rub shoulders with the “gentleman” as part of his crew. Ritu da, for Shaw, was a disciplinarian, yet friendly with all. “He used to be elated if crew members showed up on time. Especially if the set, camera and lighting were all ready before the cast arrived. He used to call me up to ensure whether I would make it on time. He used to ask ‘Ki Taraka, time e chole ashbetoh?’ (Tarak, will you be on time?),” said Shaw.

During his decade-long tryst as a crew member in the Bengali film industry, Shaw (now in his late 40s) used to ferry cameras and other essential production staples. He drove a car packed to the brim with equipment during the filming of Ghosh’s Bariwali (1999), Shubho Mahurat (2002) and Chokher Bali (2003).

Shaw recalls Ghosh having a casual attitude on set. He insisted that all should lunch and dine together. Moreover, Ghosh preferred the same team for his subsequent films. However, his homosexuality made him a constant target of jokes. “He was mocked by some technicians because of his effeminate mannerisms. He used to speak in a ladylike manner and some people on set used to answer him back in the same way. But he never complained and took it stoically,” Shaw revealed.

He reacted in the same way when his brother Indranil Ghosh, an art director in the regional film industry, distanced himself because of his sexual preferences, Shaw added. Indranil is now remorseful. “I have lost everyone…my parents and now my brother. I don’t want to comment…I just want to get out of this whole thing,” said a grief-stricken Indranil.

Ghosh’s premature death at the age of 49 due to cardiac arrest shocked industry insiders, Bollywood and his fans.

It is not often that we get to watch movies about women bonding in Indian cinema and now that one is imminent, the male gaze afflicts it. We are, of course, referring to the Bengali film Ami Aar Amar Girlfriends (Me and My Girlfriends), directed by Mainak Bhaumik that is due to release on April 26.

The film stars Raima Sen, Swastika Mukherjee and Parno Mitra. Raima plays a writer while the other two are a counsellor and a radio jockey respectively. The three besties go off on a life affirming road trip. If all this sounds like an Oestrogen-fuelled version of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or Dil Chahta Hai, it is.

Bhaumik agrees. “There have been stories of friendship of men being brought up on screen, but this is the first film to look into the friendship of three women. It is an extension of my world, and very biographical,” he says. Despite being aware of the fate that befalls cats, we were curious to know what Bhaumik’s world looks like and so we took a gander at the trailer.

[jwplayer mediaid="207235"]

It is clear that Bhaumik’s world is that of male fantasy, for the trailer has the camera lovingly caress the three leading ladies as they, clad in swimwear, frolic in the sea off a sylvan beach, taking turns to dunk each other in the brine and pausing only to quaff pints of beer. In case the titillation wasn’t enough, Bhaumik also has the ladies run up and down the beach a few times, in slow motion of course, displaying considerable ahem, bounce shall we say?

Of course, the reason for choosing to highlight only this segment of the film could be the director’s desire to depict his female characters’ unfettered freedom, but perhaps a shrewd eye on a salivating male audience was also in the thought process.

All this is not to imply that Ami Aar Amar Girlfriends will be a trashy film. Far from it, if Bhaumik’s track record is anything to go by. His debut, Bedroom, took the audience into that most intimate of spaces, next only to a privy, and received some critical acclaim. His next film Maach Mishti & More (Fish Sweets and More) that released earlier this year is an absolute delight. An ode to Calcutta and homage to Woody Allen, the pleasurable rom-com followed the disparate lives of members of a large joint family and was a box office success.

It is therefore with great anticipation that we await Ami Aar Amar Girlfriends, and temporarily forgive Bhaumik his obsession with jounce.

The Indian classic is No.42 on the list of the British Film Institute’s best movies

Sight & Sound, the British Film Institute’s (BFI) magazine, conducted a poll for its well known Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time list, and Indian director Satyajit Ray’s Bengali film Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) has made it to the ranks…again. Only this time it’s No.42 with 31 votes, slipping 20 places from its 2002 ranking. The film, a favourite of acclaimed international directors such as Martin Scorsese, Akira Kurosawa and George Lucas, first entered Sight & Sound’s poll in 1962, and was in the top 10 in 1992.

Pather Panchali is a 1955 movie directed by the Academy Award-winning Ray and was the first part of Apu’s Trilogy, the other two being Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) – all based on a novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The film was honoured at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956 – Best Human Document, OCIC Award – Special Mention and the Palme d’Or. It won several other international honours and was presented the National Film Award by the Government of India – Best Feature Film (Golden Lotus Award) and Best Feature Film in Bengali (Silver Lotus Award) – in 1955.

The other films from the trilogy were also hugely appreciated. Aparajito won three awards at Venice in 1957 – the Golden Lion of St. Mark for Best Film, the Cinema Nuovo Award and the Critics Award. It also won majorly at the Berlin, London and San Francisco film festivals in 1958, among other honours.

Apur Sansar won the President’s Gold Medal in 1959. In 1960, it got the National Film Award for Best Film and the Sutherland Award for Best Original And Imaginative Film at the BFI London Film Festival apart from several other honours and nominations.

Mithun Chakraborty plays the lead role in Bengali film Nobel Chor

Three-time National Award-winning actor Mithun Chakraborty says it is important for him to work in offbeat films because this keeps him grounded.“Such films (offbeat films) pull you down from stardom to the ground and makes you feel human, and that is what brings me to such films,” Mithun said at an event at the ongoing 13th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF). “I have been doing such films, so there is nothing about it,” said the actor who has successfully straddled both the worlds – commercial cinema and art house cinema. He won his first national award for Mrigayaa and he got the prestigious honour for Tahader Katha and Swami Vivekananda. Nobel Chor, which had its first world premiere at the 16th Busan International Film Festival and was an official selection for screening at the 55th BFI London Film Festival, has also been screened in the Indian Frame section at the MFF. It is organised by MAMI.

In 2004, Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel prize medallion was stolen from Bichitra, the Tagore museum in Shantiniketan and director Suman Ghosh’s film shows what happens when someone stumbles upon the medal. In the film, Mithun’s character Bhanu finds a Nobel medal and decides to sell it. Ghosh said he wrote the script with Mithun in mind and “I had the courage to approach him and from then on it has been an incredible journey of co-operation from Mithunda.” This is his third directorial venture after Podokkhep for which Soumitra Chatterjee won the national award. Ghosh’s second film was Dwando, which talked about one of the tenets from the Ten Commandments. Producer Ashwini Kumar Sharma says that box office business is important but bringing such stories to business is equally important. “Art house films also do good business at the box office. I am planning to release the film some time in December,” he said.

Films like Sholay, DDLJ, Dhoom:2, Wanted and 3 Idiots will be screened in theatres

It’s official. After being exiled for 39 long years, Indian films are all set to release in Bangladesh. It’s no secret that Bollywood films are immensely popular across the border in Pakistan and Nepal, and Tamil films in Sri Lanka. However, thanks to protectionist measures by the Bangladesh government against films by their more prolific and richer neighbours, Indian films have long been banned there. The rationale behind the ban that came into effect in 1972 after India won independence for them from Pakistan was to protect the fledgling Bangladeshi film industry. In theory, it was not a bad idea. Pakistan had banned Indian films for the same reason and its industry flourished for a while but soon gave up the ghost. Rather than lose money to black marketers who made millions from pirated films, Pakistan decided to embrace fate (and make cash legally) and allow the release of Indian films there. Bollywood does exceedingly well in cinemas there now. The Sri Lankan industry is in doldrums and so is Bangladesh’s, in spite of being protected from Big Brother for so long. The lawmakers forgot one small thing. In the information age, getting access to Indian films through illegal means is extremely easy. And the Bangladesh audience prefers Indian films, as the number of shops selling illegal DVDs and the small number of cinemas in Dhaka testify.

In January 2010, Bangladesh decided to allow the release of Indian films but this happy period lasted only six months as aggrieved local filmmakers cried foul and appealed against the decision. Thus, Indian films were banned again. Now, cinema owners, fed up with the lack of local interest in local fare, appealed to the court to allow Indian film imports and the courts have agreed.

Come September, after Eid-Ul-Fitr, cinemas in Bangladesh will begin screening Indian fare. First up are three Bengali films Jour, Badla and Sangram, which are currently awaiting approval from the Bangladesh censor board. And after that is a parade of some of Bollywood’s biggest hits including Sholay, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Dhoom:2, Don (SRK, not Amitabh), Wanted and 3 Idiots. Trouble is, all these films are freely available in the country on pirated discs. Will the average Bangladeshi punter fork out a few takas for the novelty of watching them in the cinema? Only time will tell. At least, it’s a start.

Meanwhile, flop film Chillar Party seems to have won many fans in spite of it proving the truism that kid films don’t really work at the desi box office (unless you have Aamir Khan in it). Salim Khan is pulling his aged bones out of retirement to write the sequels and Ghajini producer Madhu Mantena is in talks with the film’s co-director Vikas Bahl for Tamil and Telugu versions. Who knows, the films may become runaway hits in Bangladesh. Stranger things have occurred, like say, Abhishek Bachchan or John Abraham still having a career rather than exiting honourably (okay, pushed out screaming) like Kumar Gaurav….